


Magic Words

by Too_Many_Fandoms_Is_Never_Enough



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: (but not really), Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Not Beta Read, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-08-10 08:22:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20132338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Too_Many_Fandoms_Is_Never_Enough/pseuds/Too_Many_Fandoms_Is_Never_Enough
Summary: Soulmates were a Russian thing, apparently.  Anyone who could afford it went to a ved’ma to have the spell performed on their children as soon as they could after the child could talk.  This spell would reveal the identity of that person’s soulmate upon meeting them.  As soon as the soulmate spoke to you (assuming that you both had the spell performed on you) your right ring fingers would throb with pain for exactly five seconds, and then leave you and your newfound soulmate to enjoy the rest of your lives together.“Okay,” Yuuri said to Victor, “Why do you want me to get this spell done?  I doubt my soulmate has it done, anyway.”





	Magic Words

“Yuu-ri!” Victor Nikiforov wailed. “You never had the soulmate spell performed?”

Katsuki Yuuri sighed, exasperated. “No, Victor. I told you, I never knew that soulmates  _ existed  _ before you told me.”

“But Yuu-ri! You could have a soulmate somewhere you don’t know about!” Victor wailed.

“Victor, I still don’t understand.”

Victor went on to explain, none too efficiently, how the idea of soulmates worked. 

Soulmates were a Russian thing, apparently. Anyone who could afford it went to a  _ ved’ma _ to have the spell performed on their children as soon as they could after the child could talk. This spell would reveal the identity of that person’s soulmate upon meeting them. As soon as the soulmate spoke to you (assuming that you both had the spell performed on you) your right ring fingers would throb with pain for exactly five seconds, and then leave you and your newfound soulmate to enjoy the rest of your lives together.

“Okay,” Yuuri said. “Why do you want me to get this spell done? I doubt my soulmate has it done, anyway.”

In response, Victor grabbed Yuuri’s hands tightly and gazed into his eyes until Yuuri flushed and glanced down, flustered. “I think you know already, my Yuuri,” he said softly.

Yuuri promised.

  
  


Yuuri fully meant to keep his promise to Victor until it was about to happen. It was the night after the Rostelecom Cup banquet and he was exhausted. Victor and himself had exchanged rings! And of course their friends and fellow skaters had noticed. Yuuri didn’t know whose reaction had been more awkward- his mortification or Victor’s cheerful announcement of their engagement. Which, unsurprisingly, he hadn’t run by Yuuri beforehand. 

If Yuuri hadn’t been preoccupied worrying about what the media and his family’s reaction would be, he might’ve been a little more prepared for Victor barging into his room uninvited and flopping down half on top of Yuuri, who was half-asleep. He yelped in surprise and Victor laughed softly before gently curling up to his side. Yuuri stiffened but finally relaxed and let him in.

“Mmm… Yuuri?” Victor asked him, after a few moments of just lying together in the comfortable silence.

“Yes?” Yuuri answered drowsily.

Victor nuzzled into his shoulder tiredly. “Let’s get the spell done before we fly back to Japan.”

_ Spell?  _ Yuuri thought groggily.  _ What- OH! The soulmate spell… but I’m not sure I want a soulmate now. I just want Victor.  _

He didn’t realize he’d spoken his thoughts until Victor wrapped his arms around him desperately. “Oh, Yuuri,  _ lyubov moya.  _ It’s alright. I feel the same way, I just think it’s something you should do.”

The next morning Victor woke Yuuri much earlier than they needed to get up to make it to the airport on time. Yuuri was confused at first, mind sluggish from sleep until he realized.

_ Oh, right. The spell. _

“Yuu-ri! Get dressed! I found a  _ ved’ma  _ to do the spell for us.”

Yuuri groaned, rolled out of bed and tugged on a pair of pants and a worn black shirt that used to be Victor’s. He stumbled to the bathroom to brush his teeth and drag a comb through his hair.

“Ready?” Victor asked when Yuuri left the bathroom.

Yuuri nodded. Victor took his hand and laced their fingers together, and they walked out of their hotel room. Yuuri noticed that Victor seemed to be oddly on edge as they left the hotel.

It was a brief walk to the  _ ved’ma’ _ s shop. The building was worn and weathered, but well-kept. Yuuri had been expecting to find a broken-down house that looked like it was occupied solely by bats and rodents. Maybe he’d watched too many American horror movies with Phichit in Detroit.

Victor took Yuuri’s hand and walked up to the door. He was definitely nervous about something.

“You’re tense,” Yuuri told him softly. He squeezed Victor’s hand. “It’ll be fine.”

Victor didn’t relax. “I know.” He knocked on the door, which swung open silently after a few seconds to reveal a young girl, with blond hair and hazel eyes. When she smiled, dimples appeared on her round cheeks. She looked around nine years old.

She said something in Russian that sounded like a greeting to Yuuri. Even after being around Victor for so long, he couldn’t understand Russian if it was spoken too quickly or out of the range of normal conversation.

“ _ Nyet,”  _ Victor said in response to what must have been a question. He started speaking too quickly for Yuuri to understand, and gestured towards Yuuri several times. The girl nodded, expression growing solemn and then happy again.

She turned to Yuuri. “Good… luck,” she said in careful, accented English.

_ Good luck? For what? What did Victor say to her? _

“Thank you,” Yuuri responded.

The girl spun and skipped into the next room. “Babushka!” she called. 

A moment later, an old woman’s voice called in accented English, “Well, come in, then.”

Victor’s grip on his hand tightened, and they entered the house and walked into a small adjoining room. It looked like an old parlor. The furniture was worn and the wallpaper faded with time, but the room was meticulously clean. Small knick knacks lined tables and shelves around the room, and it was furnished with several chairs and couches, along with small tables.

An old, wizened woman sat in an armchair facing the door. She smiled when she saw Victor. “Ah, Vitya! So you found someone after all! I thought you might.”

Victor choked. “I.. how..?” he was flushed, and looked more flustered than perhaps Yuuri had ever seen him.

Yuuri frowned and looked between him and the woman. “Wait… do you two know each other?”

The old woman laughed until she had to hunch over, coughing and wheezing for air. She slowly managed to sit back up and wipe the tears from her eyes, still chuckling. “Oh, Vitya, you bad boy. You didn’t tell him?”

Victor shook his head mutely.

She turned to Yuuri. “I cast the soulmate spell on your Victor. He was quite, how do you say, upset about it at the time. But then, he was only six.”

“Um…” Yuuri said, “he’s not my Victor.”

“Oh, I think he is,” she chuckled. “But let’s do the spell just to make sure, eh?”

Yuuri nodded. “All right, what do I need to do?”

Suddenly, the woman’s entire demeanor changed. She straightened in her seat, her voice deepening. Her entire attitude became one of command and authority. “Now. Your name?”

“Katsuki Yuuri,” Yuri said. 

She nodded, raising one wizened hand. “Yuuri, you will sit there.” She gestured toward the stool near her chair. “Vitya, you must leave the room now. Ask my Nastya to make you a cup of tea, and Yuuri will fetch you when the spell is complete.”

Yuuri desperately wanted Victor to stay, but he nodded and left. Yuuri walked over and sat on the stool, which creaked under his weight. Nervously, he looked up at the old  _ ved’ma. _ “How does the spell work?”

She smiled at him kindly. “You’ll see. Fetch me that wooden box on the side table over there, and the jar beside it.”

Yuuri obeyed. The old woman seemed nice enough, and Victor seemed to trust her. Well, if Victor trusted her, Yuuri would too. 

The box was plain but surprisingly heavy, made of, golden brown wood with bronze hinges and a matching clasp. The small jar was full of brownish lumps that almost seemed to shine in the dim light of the room.

Yuuri carefully set the box in the old woman’s lap and handed her the jar. “Here.”

She immediately opened the jar and popped one of the brown lumps into her mouth before holding the jar out to Yuuri in offering.

“Are those magic?” Yuuri asked. Well, they  _ had  _ seemed to glow.

The  _ ved’ma  _ laughed. “No, dear, they’re just honey drops. My throat’s a bit dry, that’s all. You’re welcome to have one.”

Yuuri took one hesitantly. It did taste like honey, and some sort of herb. (Echinacea, maybe? He also tasted a hint of lemon).

“Now, to do the spell.” Yuuri straightened when he heard her words, having almost forgotten what they were here for.

The old woman placed her hands on the box and started changing softly in rapid Russian. The box began to glow softly with a golden light. The  _ ved’ma  _ stopped chanting after a minute or two and turned to Yuuri. “Remove your ring, and place your hands on the side of the box.”

Yuuri did, placing the ring in his pocket, and the old woman resumed her chanting. The glow from the box became stronger until Yuuri had to close his eyes because of its brightness. What happened next occurred so quickly Yuuri barely had time to process it.

Still chanting, the old woman yanked Yuuri’s right hand off the side of the box, opened the lid, stuffed his hand in and slammed the lid on his wrist. It should have hurt, but it didn’t. Yet.

Her chanting stopped, and his hand started to throb with intense pain. It felt like something red-hot was growing into his skin. When the pain stopped, the old woman opened the box and removed Yuuri’s hand. The skin around the base of his ring finger was red, raw and inflamed, but was visibly returning to normal.

The  _ ved’ma  _ looked up at Yuuri and smiled. “Well done. The spell seems to have set properly, but you must wait until your hand is back to normal to go find your boyfriend.”

Yuuri nodded.

“So, tell me, young man,” the  _ ved’ma  _ asked with the air of a wise old gossip, “How did you and little Vitya find each other?”

Yuuri chuckled. “Well, it wasn’t the first time we met because I happened to be a bit drunk at the time, but Victor basically introduced himself to me naked in my family’s hot spring.”

The old  _ ved’ma  _ roared with laughter. “He would! Ah, that Vitya. I hope he hasn’t gotten you into too much trouble.”

Yuuri smiled at her. “Nothing I can’t handle so far.”

“You say that now.” She snorted. “Now, your hand looks fine, so go find your Vitya and tell him I said not to get you in any more trouble, you hear?” 

Yuuri grinned. “Yes, ma’am.” He stood and left, finding Victor sitting at a small table in the kitchen, sipping some kind of tea.

Victor smiled when he saw Yuuri, eyes lighting up. “Yuu-ri! How did it go?”

Yuuri dropped into the chair opposite Victor. “Fine, I- ouch!” His right ring finger was throbbing again, except that this time it felt like something was growing right out of the bones of his hand instead of into them. He dimly heard the smash of Victor’s cup falling to the floor and breaking, as he doubled over clutching at his hand until the pain stopped, which fortunately happened after a few seconds. Yuuri wasn’t sure he could have taken much more without passing out. 

“Victor, what was-” Yuuri stared. Victor had tears in his eyes as he stared at his right hand, which was covered in blood. His face was twisted into an odd expression.

“Victor! Y-your hand! Are you all right?”

Victor nodded, carefully placing his hands over Yuuri’s own. “I just didn’t expect it to hurt that much, that’s all.”

“Huh?” Yuuri asked blankly.

Victor pulled a couple of tissues out of his pocket with his good hand and started carefully cleaning the blood off their hands. “Well, the spell activating, of course. Yuuri, what did you  _ think  _ I meant?”

Yuuri choked on his own spit. “Wait-you-I-we’re-”

“Soulmates?” Victor helpfully supplied. A small smile flitted across his features. “Yes, my Yuuri. We are.  _ Look.” _

He pointed at Yuuri’s right hand, which was still a bit bloody. A ring gleamed there. A ring that definitely wasn’t one of the rings he and Victor had exchanged. This ring gleamed gold, with inlaid silver script in Kanji. The script spelled out the name  ヴィクトル・ニキフォロフ, or  _ Victor Nikiforov. _

Yuuri stared at it in confusion. “Victor, what-”

Victor took his hand gently. “I have one too.”

Victor’s ring was similar to Yuuri’s except that it was silver inlaid with gold lettering in Cyrillic.  Юри Кацуки. 

“It says your name,” Victor explained.    
  


“So does mine,” Yuuri murmured. “Well, it says your name not mine, that is.”

Victor beamed at him. “We’re soulmates!”

“Yes,” Yuuri said softly. “Victor, when you asked me to get the spell done, I was worried.”

“I know,” Victor said softly. “I was worried we wouldn’t be soulmates too. But I wanted to know. And either way, I would never leave you, Yuuri.”

Yuuri nodded. “Just as long as you stay close to me, Victor.”

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first try at a soulmate fic! I really wanted to write a soulmate AU where the soulmates are in a relationship before they find out that they're soulmates, and I tried my best, guys. Also when I wrote the ved'ma, I was picturing an older version of Topsy from Mary Poppins Returns :P sue me xd. Please let me know what you think in the comments!


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